Under new federal legislation, Canadians will be able to grow up to four marijuana plants in their private residence.

But a lack of protections and awareness could cost them thousands – or even their mortgage.

Sentiment on smoking and cultivating marijuana at home still largely negative, finds new Zoocasa survey.

With the new cannabis laws coming into force, would growing pot at home reduce your property’s value? What about smoking weed at home? Do you think a new cannabis store in the neighbourhood would help or hinder a home sale? A majority of Canadian homeowners (64 per cent) believe that a home where the owners smoked pot would see a decreased value, according to a survey released October 16 by real estate website Zoocasa.

New research forecasts which cities will outperform the rest of the province's markets, despite recent dramatic value increases

A new report released today shows Surrey, the second largest city in B.C. and the fastest growing, has the diversity and strength required to lead the province in real estate investment potential. The Top 10 Towns and Cities – British Columbia report helps home-buyers and sellers decide whether now is a good time to buy, or sell, a property.

The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) is an independent research and analysis firm that has been producing reports on housing markets across Canada for 25 years and has earned its reputation as a dependable source in providing unbiased research and analysis.

BC Assessment notices arrive in the mail, giving some homeowners a big smile and a bit more spring in their step (increased property taxes aside), while others wilt and lament at a modest gain or decrease in assessed value. Do these numbers make you more interested in selling your home?

Wait a sec. Neither this assessment document, nor either parties’ emotions, are tied to a current true market value. In fact, provincial property assessments can be significantly too high or too low. Values are determined in July of the previous year, and properties are rarely visited in person by provincial appraisers.

For this reason, provincial property assessments should never be solely relied upon as any sort of relevant indicator of true market value for the

Aging in community is a popular way for seniors to focus on their health by staying active and social, but what exactly is it?

The definition can vary from person to person, but generally it simply means living at home or in a senior community that isn’t assisted by nurses or other caregivers. For many seniors, this is a big deal, as it means that they can continue to make decisions for themselves and live life on their own terms.

“As a matter of fact, a growing number of baby boomers are turning to shared living as an aging in place housing option. A 2014 AARP analysis of census data found approximately 132,000 households and 490,000 women over the age of 50 living with non-romantic

New Consumer Protection Rules: Information for Consumers

The Superintendent of Real Estate has announced new rules for real estate licensees (Realtors) that will change the way a real estate professional can provide service to consumers. Under the new rules, real estate licensees will be required to:

give consumers more information about commissions and fees — in particular, how the commission is to be divided between a listing brokerage and cooperating brokerage, or when there is no cooperating brokerage, retained by the listing brokerage;

before working with consumers, inform them of the duties and responsibilities owed to clients and unrepresented parties;

inform unrepresented consumers of the risks of dealing with a licensee who is

Buying a Home in British Columbia

Buying a home is the largest investment most of us ever become involved in. Yet people sometimes take less time over it than they do when buying a new car. That’s because it’s unfamiliar territory to many of us. We don’t know what questions to ask. We may take things for granted, rely on others when we shouldn’t, and sometimes we later wish we had known more about the process involved.

It is important for you to understand the the process that is normally involved in the purchase of a home, to recognize the significance of the documents you will encounter, and to understand the role of other people who may be involved in the transaction. Buying a home is a major event. This information will help you better

British Columbia's NDP government will introduce tax measures designed to push down the price of housing by targeting vacant homes owned by out-of-province investors.

Finance Minister Carole James said she hopes this and other changes will cool real estate costs, but would not predict how much, or what will happen if they take a bigger bite out of housing values than intended.

"We are treading on new ground," she told reporters on Tuesday as she unveiled her first full budget.

"We will be doing the analysis as we implement them."

The $54-billion balanced budget also promises historic investments in child care to create new spaces and train more caregivers, while giving tens of thousands of families access to two new programs to subsidize

Stuck between a rock and your mom’s basement

Multiple generations living under one roof isn't a new concept, but it is on the rise in North America, especially with millennials. This housing shift comes as a result of many factors, including work challenges and the rising cost of rent in most parts of the country. In fact, millennials are starting their adult lives after the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. This change has been the subject of much speculation and comparison to earlier generations, so personal finance expert Rubina Ahmed-Haq stopped by to help shine some light on why Generation Y is staying put for now.

Gen Y – commonly referred to as millennials – are people born approximately between the 1980s and the mid-1990s. Increasingly

Latest government numbers show B.C. HOME Partnership program was missing targets

For the current provincial government, it was never HOME sweet HOME.

The province announced today that it will cancel HOME — formally the B.C. Home Owner Mortgage and Equity Partnership program — a government loan program that aimed to help first-time home buyers get into the B.C. housing market. HOME provides loans of up to $37,500 or five per cent of the home's purchase price (up to a maximum of $750,000) to first-time home buyers for a down payment. .

In announcing the cancellation, the government said the program had failed to meet expectations. When it was announced in late 2016, it was expected that 42,000 British Columbians would use the program over three

A new B.C. “dual agency” rule banning real estate agents from working with both the buyer and seller of a property are so complex and onerous it will result in frustrated consumers and a blizzard of useless paperwork when it comes into force March 15, according to real estate agents.

The Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate announced B.C.’s new real estate consumer protection rules last November, but real estate agents say there has not been enough time to understand the shifting regulations or how they will be interpreted.

“We will not even have the forms until March,” said Damian Stathonikos, director of communications and public affairs at the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA). About five per cent of residential real estate